Tom Clancy's EndWar
Summary Tom Clancy's EndWar is a real-Time Strategy game that allows you to lead an army to see which can be the true superpower. Story In the year 2016, terrorists in the Middle East have detonated a Nuclear bomb in Saudi Arabia, not only did this kill 6 million people but it also crippled the supply of crude oil and natural gas, resulting in a severe oil crisis worldwide. In response, the United States and Europe have came up with a special orbital device known as the "Space/Land/Air Missile Shield" (or SLAMS) which puts an end to Nuclear warfare. In the years following, Russia becomes the leading supplier of crude oil and natural gas and thus making Russia rediscover it's superpower status, it distributes it's newfound funds into the biggest military buildup since the cold war. Meanwhile, the countries in Europe (excluding Great Britain and Ireland) have agreed to unite as one and founded the "European Federation" which has a population and a GNP count greater than the United States and develops a rift between them and the U.S. as well as causing the countries of eastern Europe to collapse and ripe for conquering, and thus Russia conquers these countries and claim them as their own. The United States goes on to it;s special space weapons program, they're developing a space weapon platform known as the "Freedom Star" and by 2020 the 3 superpowers were in turmoil with each other. In weeks before a shuttle launch to the Freedom Star, a force from the unknown attacks the launch site, and thiese forces will also attack areas in Europe and Russia calling themselves the "Forgotten Army". Then, as the shuttle for the Freedom Star was suddenly destroyed war began between the 3 superpowers. Who'll be the last superpower standing, only time will tell. Gameplay Tom Clancy's EndWar allows you to control a series of forces and either protect or attack a certain area. You can also call in an airstrike or send in a special reconisance force to help you out in battle. You can choose your superpower either it be the United States, Europe and Russia (after going thrugh the "Prelude to War" tutorial mode). Unlike Command & Conquer this involves more strategy and tatical thinking rather than attacking the enemy head on. Game Modes Campain Mode Choose your faction (either it be the United States, Europe or Russia) and try to defeat the other factions and claim victory for your faction. Prelude to war Note: You must complete this mode to unlock Campaign Mode Play the 6 stages while fighting on all 3 sides to get the feel of the game. Skirmish Play with either a friend or the CPU and use your forces to defeat the other side. Johnny's Review General Thoughts By viewing the screenshots and watching some video on Youtube, this sparked my interest as some of the places in the game take place in Major Cities. Though, I knew that it was nothing like Command & Conquer as it had a different approach to the Real-Time Strategy genre. Graphics Ubisoft has done a very good job getting the last details of the backgrounds (especially the Major Cities) the design for the Soldiers, Tanks and Helicopters are also nicely done. The special effects are also well done (though I haven't seen any of the ultimate weapons for each faction). Rating: 8.5 Music There's not a whole lot of mentioning of the music as the soundtrack of the game is kind of weak and sometimes virtually non-existant. Rating: 3 Sound/Voices Te sounds are very well done. The explosions and the sound of the weapons are what they should be. The voices are also good (though not the best) especially with the accents of European and Russian. Rating: 6.5 Gameplay Controls The controls are quite simple for a PS3 game. You can use the buttons to command a force and even pan and zoom with the camera with the 3-D pads (which I call them). The forces are quite responsive (but can suffer severe casualties if you turn your attention away from them. I haven''t tried the game with the headset, so I have no opinion on *that*.'' Rating: 7 Replay Value Besides Skirmish Mode, once you beat the game with all 3 factions, there's nothing else to give you a good enough reason to play this game. Rating: 2 Final Thoughts There's not much to say about this game instead of the exhilarating graphics and great sounds. I mean absolutely no disrespect, but I would recommend Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 over this game anyday of the year. Overall Rating: 3